Bennetts Associates was appointed as architect and principal designer for the scheme, which encompasses the Grade II Listed former Union Bank building and an adjacent ‘gap site’, a vacant and derelict plot of land that currently has an adverse visual impact on the streetscape. The site is minutes away from Piccadilly Train Station and is situated on a prominent corner at the heart of Manchester city centre, bound by Piccadilly, Gore Street and Chatham Street. The scheme was awarded planning permission in August 2024.
The development seeks to reimagine and repurpose the vacant and neglected space by creating a new 34-storey building to house an innovative 251-bedroom aparthotel. It will feature a mix of one and two-bed rooms and studios, along with a diverse range of publicly accessible, community-facing amenities including a café, exhibition hall and a rooftop bar, restaurant and terrace. The new-build tower connects through to the listed Bank building which houses further guestrooms and amenity space. The Bank has been unoccupied for over a decade and is in urgent need of repair and restoration to safeguard its heritage for future generations.
With a strong focus on placemaking, the team’s vision is to ensure the sensitive integration of existing and new buildings with a strong combined identity and relationship to their surroundings. The townscape approach involves the massing of the lower four storeys of the tower to create an open street-level block. This would contain the main entrance to the hotel and form a unified base that sensitively links to the adjacent listed building in a way that addresses the scale of other buildings along Piccadilly and city-wide. The development will bring the listed building and vacant site back into active use, breathe new life into this urban block, significantly improve accessibility, and positively contribute to the unique historic setting while introducing a distinctive new building at an important gateway into the city.
Adaptive reuse is a key consideration, as the retrofitted former bank building will make up 10% of the
total floor area. The design has been driven by a desire to be lean, with an aspiration to reduce
finishes and expose both structure and services in a radically different hotel experience.
The site is located in close proximity to the Stevenson Square Conservation Area and several other listed buildings, and the design response took this factor into serious consideration. Bennetts Associates created a balanced, thoughtful and heritage-led design strategy that ensures the proposed development respects and celebrates the historical context of the surrounding area.
